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 Ornano
International 2008
Bordeaux, 08-13 Sep, $15k |
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13-Sep, Final:
Draw & Results
[6] Saurav Ghosal (Ind) bt [3] Davide Bianchetti
(Ita)
11/6, 11/6, 9/11, 11/9
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Saurav's Biggest Yet
Report from Rediff.com
Giant-killer Saurav Ghosal notched up the biggest title of
his career by winning the inaugural Ornano International Open,
stunning third seed Davide Bianchetti in the final of the $ 15,000
PSA Tour squash event in Bordeaux. The sixth seeded Ghosal shocked
Italian Bianchetti 11-6, 11-6, 9-11, 11-9 in the finals to secure
the fourth and the biggest PSA Tour title of his career.
 "I
entered my name in the tournament because I wanted to see France, a
place I have never been to. I didn't care about the draw. I knew I
was facing some really tough players but I have been playing pretty
okay for a while," a beaming Ghosal told PTI. "To win such a big
tournament after beating players who are ranked above me is
certainly very special. All the hard work that I have put in is
finally paying off," he added.
The win in the final was the 22-year-old's third successive upset in
the event. The reigning national champion made his breakthrough in
the quarterfinals when he toppled top seed Renan Lavigne in four
games, dashing hopes of the local success in the event. In the
semi-finals, Ghosal overcame fifth seeded Egyptian Amr Swelim in a
thrilling five-gamer.
Celebrating his sixth appearance in a PSA Tour final, the four-time
national champion faced third seed Bianchetti, the world number 30
from Italy and a veteran of 18 final appearances. The pair last met
in June 2006 but Ghosal lost 1-3 in that match.
"I was better prepared and I had the speed advantage. Davide is not
the fastest on the court and I used my speed well. But he raised the
bar in the third game when I was too excited," Ghosal said. "The
fourth game was also very tight but I just remained calm and managed
to pull it off. I am very happy because it is good build up for the
World Open next month," he added.
Ghosal credited his improved fitness and game to his British coach
Malcolm Willstrop, who has been with him for the past three
years. "My game is better now and so is my fitness. I am play a more
attacking game now and placing has improved. The credit for this
goes to Malcolm. He has been with me and we have trained really
hard," he said.
National coach Cyrus Poncha also hailed Ghosal's triumph: "It
truly is a great achievement by Saurav," said Poncha. "On the way to
his title he defeated three seeded players ranked higher than him,
including world number 27 Renan Lavigne," he said. "Saurav is
playing his first year of 'full time squash' (after graduation) and
he will improve rapidly," he added.
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12-Sep, Semis:
[3] Davide Bianchetti (Ita) bt [8] Bradley Hindle
(Aus) 11/8, 11/9, 11/4 (68m)
[6] Saurav Ghosal (Ind) bt [5] Amr Swelim (Egy) 10/12,
11/2 , 11/2, 3/11, 14/12 (74m) |
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Unexpected final in Bordeaux
With the top seeds both falling in the quarter-finals, it was always
going to be an unexpected final in Bordeaux ... but between who ?
Third seed Davide Bianchetti beat one of yesterday's
giant-killers, but it took the Italian over an hour to beat
Amsterdam-based Australian Bradley Hindle. A few discussions
with the ref for Davide, as ever, but nothing bad and everything was
kept under control, including his opponent.
There was no stopping Saurav Ghosal in the other semi-final
though, as he followed up his quarter-final win over Renan Lavigne
with a five game win over Amr Swelim.
Saurav and Amr have been sharing a room all week, and showed super
spirit on the court tonight. Amr took a close first game, then lost
concentration and tinned ball after ball in the second and third. It
was Saurav's turn to make the errors in the fourth as the Indian
sixth seed lost 10 points in a row from 3/1 up.
But Saurav came back in the fifth, a game that was close all the
way, and win the match on a tin from his opponent.
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 I'm
already back home because I lost my match, but the tournament is not
over yet, so I wanted to write you as I promised Hubert I'd do.
I watched a few matches there and I was quite impressed with Greg
Marche and Mathieu Castagnet, both played a very good math in
the first round and went to five pushing to the limit Bradley Hindle
and Renan Lavigne.
But the one that surprised me most was Bradley the next day
when he was playing Joey Barrington. He was totally focused
and concentrated and was in control of the pace and the game mostly
of the time and pushing himself a lot to keep the pressure on Joey,
who could not feel comfortable during the game. I really though it
would be a tough match for Brad because he played a hard math the
day before, but it was just stunning. He really deserves it.
 And
I have to say congratulations to Hubert. He did a great
effort to run this tournament, he organized it pretty well and
helped the players in all the ways possible (with the hotel,
billeting, lunch, picking up, etc) making everything easier.
The club was full of people watching the matches and I'm sure there
will be more to watch the final today.
I really enjoy my stay there, so... thank you Hubert. You really
work hard for it, thank you again.
Regards,
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Davide's Diary ...
 I
haven't seen many matches, however I can say it's been very busy and
they reached the full capacity of the little club club here. Little
club but very nice people.
I played ok the first two matches, the courts are very hot and
bouncy, not really my type. I am playing Hindle tonight who played a
very good match last night against Barrington. It was very good
squash and very accurate with Hindle able to win two games on the
tie break and that made the difference.
Lavigne had a very tough match with Castagnet and he was bit tired
against Saurav, however the Indian kept him moving around the court
and after Lavigne lost the second game with five game balls the
match was basically over.
I didn't see Balbo against Swelim but Julien told me he is not fit
enough at the moment and on these courts it's hard to win if you are
not ...
That's it ... See you in Paris ...
Davide Bianchetti |
Ornano
International 2008
Bordeaux, 08-13 Sep, $15k |
Round One
10-Sep |
Quarters
11-Sep |
Semis
12-Sep |
Final
13-Sep |
[1] Renan Lavigne
(Fra)
11/5, 5/11, 12/10, 10/12, 11/4 (106m)
Mathieu Castagnet (Fra) |
[1] Renan Lavigne
7/11, 15/13, 11/5, 11/5
[6] Saurav Ghosal |
[6] Saurav Ghosal
10/12, 11/2 , 11/2, 3/11, 14/12 (74m)
[5] Amr
Swelim |
[6] Saurav Ghosal 11/6
11/6 9/11 11/9
[3] Davide Bianchetti |
[6] Saurav Ghosal
(Ind)
11/9, 11/8, 11/5 (38m)
David Vidal (Esp) |
[4] Julien Balbo (Fra)
11/8, 11/5, 11/6 (42m)
Yann Perrin (Fra) |
[4] Julien Balbo
11/6, 11/5, 8/11, 11/5 (45m)
[5] Amr Swelim |
[5] Amr Swelim (Egy)
11/4, 11/5, 10/7 rtd (22m(
[Q] Eddie Charlton (Eng) |
[Q] Lewis Walters
(Eng)
11/3, 12/10, 11/8 (25m)
[7] Ritwik Bhattacharya (Ind) |
[7] Ritwik Bhattacharya
11/8, 11/3, 11/8
[3] Davide Bianchetti |
[3] Davide Bianchetti
11/8, 11/9, 11/4 (68m)
[8] Bradley Hindle |
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Ben Ford (Eng)
11/5, 11/3, 11/6 (28m)
[3] Davide Bianchetti (Ita) |
[Q] Greg Marche (Fra)
8/11, 11/3, 6/11, 11/7, 11/5 (71m)
[8] Bradley Hindle (Aus) |
[8] Bradley Hindle
11/9, 13/11, 11/9 (73m)
[2] Joey Barrington |
[Q] Gary Wheadon (Rsa)
11/3, 11/5, 11/1 (31m)
[2] Joey Barrington (Eng) |
09-Sep,
Qualifying Finals:
Greg Marche (Fra) bt Romain Tenant (Fra)
12/10, 14/12, 11/9
Lewis Walters (Eng) bt Fabien Verseille (Fra)
11/6, 3/11, 13/11, 11/9
Eddie Charlton (Eng) bt Neil Hitchens (Eng)
11/4, 9/11, 11/8, 11/5
Gary Wheadon (Rsa) bt Jens Schoor (Ger)
11/5, 11/5, 11/3
08-Sep, Qualifying
round one:
Romain Tenant (Fra) bye
Greg Marche (Fra) bt Stéphane Galifi (Fra)
12/10, 11/8 rtd
Fabien Verseille (Fra) bt Tom Pashley (Eng)
11/3, 11/7, 3/11, 11/5
Lewis Walters (Eng) bt Johan Bouquet (Fra)
11/5, 11/8, 7/11, 11/9
Eddie Charlton (Eng) bt Joe Lee (Eng)
15/13, 11/6, 11/7
Neil Hitchens (Eng) bt Rene Mijs (Ned)
11/7, 14/12, 8/11, 11/8
Gary Wheadon (Rsa) bt
Antoine d'Auzac (Fra) 11/4, 11/6, 11/2
Jens Schoor (Ger) bye
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11-Sep, Quarters:
Bad day for top seeds in Bordeaux
The quarter-finals of the Ornano Open in Bordeaux saw the top two
seeds vanquished.
After taking the first game against Saurav Ghosal, top seed
Renan Lavigne looked to be suffering from his 100-minute+ marathon
quarter-final as the Indian champion took the next three to
progress.
Ghosal now meets fifth seed Amr Swelim after the Egyptian
beat Julien Balbo in four games to end hopes of a home winner.
The longest match of the day saw eighth-seed Bradley Hindle
score a stunning straight-games upset over Joey Barrington, the
second seed. Hindle faces third seeded Italian Davide Bianchetti
for a place in the final. 10-Sep, Round One:
Renan & Bradley
survive
It will be the top eight seeds who contest the quarter-finals of the
Ornano Open in Bordeaux, but two of them were stretched to the limit
by rising French stars.
Eighth
seed Bradley Hindle was twice behind to Greg Marche,
before finally subduing the youngster after 71 minutes.
This was Marche's third meeting with Hindle in his last four events,
but having the previous two encounters the European Junior
Champion ran out of legs in the fifth, no doubt suffering from his
exertions in qualifying.
Top
seed Renan Lavigne was pushed even harder, as the newest PSA
board member needed 106 minutes to fend off the challenge of his
young compatriot Mathieu Castagnet.
Lavigne now faces India's sixth seed Saurav Ghosal, while
Hindle meets England's second seed Joey Barrington, who
needed just 31 minutes to beat qualifier Gary Wheadon, for a place
in the semi-finals.
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